I wrote last October that I thought Barry Bonds should be celebrated, despite the rumors and the stuff we know because we have two eyes and a brain.
I thought the Giants were going to let him go and I felt it was an anticlimactic end to the run of seasons that saved baseball in San Francisco.
Well of course they brought him back...
Mainly there was too much dough to squeeze out of people's wallets for the Hank Aaron chase.
Well they got it... and had about as bad and boring a season you could imagine.
(So much for my prediction they would win the West)
Well now the Giants are saying "Thanks for saving the team... bye."
And Bonds has said in his official journal (as opposed to his private journal with Hello Kitty on the cover) "I just wish I had known sooner so we had more time to say our goodbyes and celebrate the best 15 years of my life."
Hey Barry... the team gave you a 162 game victory lap!
They loaded the team with quiet, steer the course, punchless veterans so you wouldn't get upset.
I'm going to go out on a limb and say the Giants have done everything to make this year all about Barry. But they also don't want him to be Belushi's The Thing That Wouldn't Leave.
So the Barry Bonds era ends in San Francisco... now what?
What should the Giants do?
First of all they have some dough to spend. And their lineup with Bonds was one of the worst I have ever seen.
They need at least 3 hitters... a right fielder, a first baseman and for the first time since 1992, a left fielder.
The temptation among Giants fans is to try and get a marquee slugger. When I was at AT&T Park last month, I saw someone with an A-Rod Giants jersey.
While A-Rod would be amazing and welcomed with open arms in San Francisco... we all saw what happened in Texas when he is inserted into a team that isn't ready.
The Giants have 3 young starting pitchers who could be the cornerstone of a great team for years to come. Lincecum is 23, Cain is 22, Lowry is 26. Even Zito, who had a dreadful first season across the Bay, is only 29.
They need need NEED an anchor in their bullpen. If they were to swipe someone from the Yankees, I think it would behoove them to at least offer Mariano Rivera a big contract.
There is a word for people who think closers are overrated: Idiots.
Having someone secure the 9th inning could go a long long way to building up the confidence of a potential Maddux/Glavine/Smoltz/Avery in a pitchers ballpark.
I'd see what they have in the minor leagues for the outfield... but they should keep bringing in speedy outfielders. Getting Rajai Davis in the bizarre Matt Morris trade should be the direction they go in.
Make the Giants like the Whitey Herzog Cardinals. Good pitching, fast outfielders and one slugger.
Spend 2008 getting an anchor for the bullpen and figuring out who the three sprinting outfielders are. And then in 2009 spend the money for the one slugger to be the last piece. But don't feel the pressure to replace Barry.
You can't get another one... even in a laboratory.
Where will Barry go?
Man... at this point, he's a part time outfielder with more baggage than Winslet in the opening of Titanic.
For anyone outside of KNBR's antena range he is public enemy #1.
And he is in such a protected coccon he makes Jim Carrey in The Truman Show look well informed.
So yeah, it might be a shock for him to go a new city and not have a standing ovation everytime he orders a ham sandwich.
But those who boo him would give him a standing ovation if he got big hits for their team. (Just look at the ovations Giambi gets every night in New York.)
The A's could use him, but not if Bonds asks for more than minimum wage.
The Angels could use another bat and having Bonds behind Vlad Guerrero would mean Vlad would see more strikes (like it matters as he swings at everything within 14 feet of the plate.)
The Tigers could use him, and Jim Leyland seems to be the only guy who would chew him out!
But how about this for a scenario?
Let's say the Mets fall out and Willie Randolph is let go.
In comes Dusty Baker to Flushing...
And he brings along his meal ticket, Mr Bonds, who comes to New York.
Both try to win that ring and have one last series in Shea!
What other Hall of Famer left the Giants to finish up in a World Series for the Mets?
His Godfather, Willie Mays!
It's worth a thought!
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